Car-loader.



No. 660,636. Patonted Oct. 30, I900. H. P. HARPSTRITE. CAR LOADEB.

(Applicationflled Fe! 3, 1900.\ (No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY P. HARPSTRITE, OF DALTON CITY, ILLINOIS.

CAR-LOADER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 660,636, dated October 30, 1900.

Application filed February 3, 1900 Serial No- 3,855. \No modeLl To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY P. HARPSTRITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dalton City, in the county of Moultrie and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Car-Loader, of which the following is a specification.

My inventionrelates to car-loaders; and it has for its object to produce a device of this kind which can be permanently located at the side of the track with a removable portion which can be inserted into the car during operation for distributing the grain and which may be removed after the car is filled without the necessity of moving or changing the operative parts of the loader; and it consists of the improved construction and novel combination of parts of a loader, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In theaccompanyingdrawings, in which the same reference n u merals indicate corresponding parts in each of the views in which they occur, Figure l is a top plan view of a car with myloader in position. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my improved loader, and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

In loading grain upon cars from warehouses located adjacent to the track it has been found desirable to cause the grain to pass through suitable mechanism by means of which it is thrown forcibly to the farthest end of the car being filled. Where the entire loading mechanism is placed bodily within the car, it is necessary to remove the same after the car has been filled and to replace it in an empty car that it is desired to fill. I obviate these objeotions and difiiculties by permanentlylocating the operative parts of my machine adjacent to the track and providing a removable spout which can be inserted into the car or removed therefrom with but little trouble or delay.

In practicing my invention I provide a suitable casing 1, which can be located on any suitable support (not shown) adjacent to the track upon which the cars are placed when being filled. The lower portion of thecasing is provided with an inlet 2, which communicates with any suitable spout from the elevator, (not shown,) and the outlet 3 is provided with a detachable spout or pipe 4. The bottom of the casing between the inlet and the outlet is preferably slightly curved and the upper portion is formed into a substantially semicylindrical hood 5, within which rotates a fan 6. The shaft 7 of the fan is journaled in suitable hearings in the casing and is provided atv one end with a pulley 8, by means of which it-canbe rotated from any suitable source of power. (Not shown.) The fan isof such a dimension that the wings pass close to the curved bottom and engage with any material which has entered the casing through the inlet. The upper portion of the hood 5 is provided with suitable inlet-holes 9, through which the airis drawn as the fans are revolved.

The spout 4 is of such length as to extend from the outlet of the casing into the car through the door in the side in the usual manner and has its inner end bifurcated to form two curved legs 10, the outlet of each of which is toward one end of the car. The end of the spout adjacent to the casing is of such area and cross-section as to fit over the end of the outlet and form a continuation of the same, and the point of bifurcation is located a short distance therefrom and substantially midway of the sides of the casing. The legs of the spout maybe of any suitable area and cross section to permit the passage of the grain without danger of clogging.

In operation the material is fed to the inlet of the casing in any desired quantity, and

the fan is driven at such a speed as will drive.

the material through the legs of the spout to the farthest end of the car, the airdrawn into the casing through the inlet-holes assisting in carrying the grain forward. By arranging the inlet to the casing at a slight angle upward the grain will enter the casing with suitable velocity, and when the fan engages with the grain it is drawn forward with such force as will cause it to pass entirely through the curved legs of the spout and be delivered at the far end of the car. improved loader the ends of the cars are filled first and the middle of the car is gradually filled by the grain which rolls down from the ends, and by the time the central portion of the car has been filled to a suffioient depth,

By the use of my IOO the car has been filled to its capacity. The spout is then detached from the outlet of the casing and removed from the car and the filled car replaced by an empty one, when the spout can be again attached to the loader and the emp y car filled in the same manner.

As above described, it will be seen that my invention is very simple and effieient, and by locating it permanently at the side of the track and providing it with a detachable spout cars can be filled much more rapidly thanif the loader had to be placed in the car i and removed therefrom and the driving mech- What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a car-loader, the combination, with a casing provided With an inlet and an outlet at an angle to each other and the portion of the bottom therebetween being curved, the upper portion of the casing being form ed into laterally in opposite directions, substantially 35 as described.

HENRY P. HARPSTRITE.- Witnesses:

D. P. KELLER, L. O. GUTHRIE. 

